Category: garden

I love when the weather turns warmer, and the first flowers of the season start to show up. Here are some of the first flowers of the year. Peonies, a fun flower from a wildflower mix (I wish I knew it’s name), one of our beautiful roses, and of course the clematis.

The peonies are all but done blooming now, most have already finished and are ready to be cut back (this encourages more blooms for next year, so I better get on it). The first round of roses has finished as well, the clematis is still blooming a bunch, and the wildflowers seem to just be getting started.

I always call this time of year “pretty season” in the garden. There will be a lull where nothing much is blooming other than roses, and then the summer blooms start coming in. Sadly, grass is always growing, and in places it doesn’t belong, like the flower beds.

What is happening in your garden?

Gardenias don’t grow outside in our climate, so when I find one to buy as a houseplant I always do! Their flowers create one of the most beautiful smells. Have you smelled one? I wish I could share the scent through the screen.

It doesn’t hurt that they are also beautiful, with their white flowers and deep green leaves. If they did grow here my garden would be full of them.

Today was a busy garden day. I tried to fit in a lot of trimming, pulling, and planting in the little time that I had. What was planted today:

• “Big Max” pumpkin seeds
• Hollyhocks
• Luffa

This year I planted our pumpkin seeds in our usual spots in the flower beds, but I also planted a few in new spots. Since you can really only grow one pumpkin per vine if you hope to grow them large, I wanted to increase our chances as much as possible.

I also tried something new with our luffa gourds. Since we might be taking our satellite dish down this year (fingers crossed), I didn’t want to start something growing on it. Instead I planted them in a large pot that has a trellis in it. I’m very hopeful that they will grow and vine onto other things nearby. It will actually help create a bit of a privacy fence.